More than Friends
by NerdTrash
Summary: When Bucky shows up at the Avengers Facility, Steve is delighted to see him. He soon learns about the struggles he's been through, and their friendship turns into something more. (I can't write summaries, I'm sorry. \ (ツ) / ) Ships: Stucky (Steve x Bucky)


Steve Rogers hit the punching bag over, and over and over. He wasn't frustrated, he just needed something to do, and since they were all spending time at the Avengers Facility, he'd decide to hit a bag. He drove his fist in the bag, sending it swinging backwards, the hit it with his other arm as it swung back towards him. His fists struck the bag over and over until the bag flew off its hook. He smiled to himself, as he walked over to the bag. He was about to pick it up when a panel lit up on the wall. He glanced over to see it showed a figure standing at one of the doors. He took a closer look, he quickly made out the features of a man with wide shoulders, long brown hair, and a red sweatshirt. He smiled as he recognized him as Bucky. He walked through the halls of the large building. He smiled at Natasha as she walked by.

"Your boyfriends here, Steve." She said with a joking smiling.

"I know" he said, not turning around, "not my boyfriend."  
"Totally," Nat replied sarcastically. Steve just laughed, and kept heading for the door.

When he finally reached the door and pushed it open, he smiled at his friend.

"Sergeant Barnes." He said with a nod.

"Captain America." Bucky smiled back. They hugged briefly, before walking into the complex.

"So, how've you been?" Steve asked, as the walked through the hall.

"Ok, I guess." Bucky spoke dryly, "but I need your help." Steve turned around, and walked backwards so he could face his friend.

"Why, what's up?" He asked, "Are you in trouble?"

"No, no," Bucky responded smiling, "It's just, my arm."

"Ok." Steve said, "Here, come this way." He lead him down a hallway, that lead to a tech room. At one of the tables sat Tony Stark, messing with some sort of tech.

"Hey Tony." Steve said acknowledgingly.

"Yo America," Tony responded, "Oh, look, it's America Jr. how ya doin Buck?"

"Fine." Bucky grumbled. Steve lead him over to another table, cluttered with tools.

"So what's up with your arm?" He asked.

"Here, look." Bucky said, pulling off his sweater. Under it he wore a black t-shirt, "A sniper shot at me through a window of a hotel in Slovakia." He lifted up his sleeve, a panel of his arm was dented, and another was falling off.

"Oh Buck!" Steve sighed. "Here let me see what I can do." He grabbed a welding torch, put on a welding helmet, and pulled up a chair next to Bucky. He flicked on the torch, and Bucky flinched.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked, flipping up the helmet.

"Just, be careful." Bucky said. Steve pulled the helmet back down, and flicked on the torch again, and started working. The panels weren't so heat resistant, so they bent back into place easily, it also made it easier to stick the panels back together.

"How's that look?" Steve said, flipping up the helmet. Bucky turned his head to look down at his arm.

"When'd you learn how to use a welding torch?" He said, smirking.

"Why? Do I surprise you?" Steve said, smiling.

"Hell yeah, I'm still not used to you being six feet tall, and frikken ripped!" Bucky said enthusiastically.

"Hey, I'm gonna leave, so I don't vomit from hearing you guys flirt." Tony said, walking out the door, "And if you guys are gonna, you know, I won't come back for a while." Steve could feel his cheeks get red hot. Bucky's face hardened, and he flipped Tony off.

"Really?" Steve said, unenthusiastically.

"Ok…" Tony said, "Just saying, all these table are really sturdy." He winked at Steve, and headed off.

"Ugh." Bucky scoffed, but Steve could tell he was embarrassed. "I liked his dad better."

"He's a good guy." Steve said.

"What did he mean?" Bucky asked, his head slightly tilted, "About, you know." Steve could feel his cheeks getting hot again.

"Most people here think we're, you know, in…love" they said the last word together. Their eyes locked. Steve could see the red in his friends cheeks. Were his friend, right? He had thought about his feelings for Bucky before. He thought he felt more than friendship, but he constantly shoved those feelings down. But the feelings always seemed to surface, over, and over. They were surfacing now, as he looked at his friends. He was handsome, he'd always found him handsome, he'd told him that he thought he was handsome, but in a friendly way. His sharp jaw, and defined face. His striking blue eyes, those eyes which he constantly found himself lost in. His muscular arms, well arm, the other was metal, but he even found that attractive. His feelings swelled, and he altogether felt confused.

Bucky was a little uncomfortable. He hadn't meant to sync with Steve, but it just came out. He knew how he felt about him, and he'd let that part of his mind control him for a split second, and this is where is got him, feeling like his secret was being revealed. He watched as Steve studied his face from the corner of his eye. His blue eyes, pupils rimmed with green. His jaw softly shifting as he thought things over. He wanted to break the silence, to say something, anything, but he was afraid that the loving part of him would speak out. So he just sat there.

"Well, um." Steve started, "I don't know why they think that…" his voice trailed off, as his eye's met Bucky's. He felt an almost, magnetic pull between them. What was it he was actually feeling. Their faces seemed to draw closer with every breath, until their faces were inches apart.

"Yeah," Bucky said, "No idea." He stood, "We should probably,"

"Yeah," Steve pulled off the welding helmet, and placed it on the table.

"Steve…" Bucky started, he was gonna tell him how he felt.

"Yeah?" Steve said, blue eyes shining, his hair was a mess from taking off the helmet.

"Come here, your hair is a mess." Bucky smiled, as he fixed the strands of Steve's blonde hair. Steve looked up, and their eyes locked.

"Is that all you came here for?" Steve asked, "or did you just miss me?" He smirked. There was another reason he'd come, but he didn't want to tell Steve. He didn't want to tell him about his nightmares.

"Yes, I just missed you." Bucky smiled, but his smile was weak.

"Is everything ok?" Steve asked lightly.

"Yeah!" Bucky forced a smile.

"No."

"Yes."

"Buck…"

"Steve."

"Stop lying."

"I'm not."

"You are!"

"Fine!" Bucky gave up, "All those people I killed, I see them dying, over and over again, in dreams. I can't sleep, I won't sleep. I don't want to see their horrified faces. I have nightmares where I'm sent by HYDRA to kill you, then I snap out of it just to see you die, I can't save you. That's what I fear, hurting, or even killing you." Bucky could feel his eyes watering. There was a moment of silence.

"Oh Buck, that's awful, but it's not you fault that you did those things. HYDRA had control of your mind, it's not your fault." Steve brushed a tear away from his friends cheek.

"Thank you Steve." Bucky said, then he lean forward, and kissed Steve. He could tell Steve was shocked, but he eventually went with it. Their kiss was warm, and comforting. They broke apart only for a moment.

"I think I love you." Bucky said, before kissing Steve again.

"Aw," A voice from the door said, "you guys are so cute." Bucky pulled away from Steve, and they both turned to the door. Natasha was leaning against the doorway, God knows how long she'd been standing there for.

"How long have you been there for!" Steve asked, clearly embarrassed.

"Long enough," She smirked, "I'm a spy, remember? Come on, it's your day to make dinner Steve." Steve stood up, and motioned Bucky to walk in front of him.

"Oh yeah he's so not your boyfriend." Nat mumbled as they left the room.

"Don't you dare say anything to Tony." Steve said.

"Lips are sealed." She made a motion, as if zipping her lips. Steve breathed a sigh of relief.

When they walked into the kitchen, the conversations immediately stopped, and all eyes were on Bucky. Sam and Rhodey seemed to have been in the middle of a conversation, while Wanda, Tony, and Vision seemed to be playing some sort of card game. But all movements and sounds had abruptly stopped, the second they'd walked in. Sam gave Steve a 'what's he doing here look'. Steve mouthed the word, later, and Sam nodded. Finally after way to long of an uncomfortable silence someone spoke.

"Hello James," Vision said, "How are you?"

"Fine, thanks." Bucky responded, clearly unhappy about being called James.

"Steve!" Tony called, "You're cooking tonight."

"I know." Steve said, then walked over to the sink and washed his hands, the opened the cabinets. He rummaged through them, till he found the ingredients for the simple pasta dish, his mom's pasta dish. He glanced over his shoulder, Bucky was awkwardly sitting next to Natasha and Sam, fiddling with something. Rhodey was giving a nasty glare, his eyes flicked over to Steve and he seemed to ask why. Steve turned away. He stirred a pot of water boil, and poured in the pasta. It immediately brought Steve back to his childhood, when he and Buck would egarly watch his mom cook, wanting to know all her secrets. He stirred the contents of the pot and started sprinkling in different spices. He then went to washing the tomatoes, which he'd use for sauce. From the sink he could see Bucky, his eyes flicked over to Steve, and their eyes locked. He gave Steve a weak smile. Steve carefully chopped, and gently crushed the tomatoes into a thick paste, just like he'd seen his mother do. He scraped it into a bowl, and mixed in some spices. He dipped a spoon in to taste, but it was missing something.

"Hey Buck?" Steve called over his shoulder, "Will you come here."

"What's up?" Bucky asked, coming up behind Steve.

"Taste this." He handed him the spoon, he tasted it and smiled.

"Steve, it taste just like your moms." Bucky said, "But it need a little more," he looked at the spices, then picked up on, "thyme, she always put in an extra pinch of thyme." He handed the bottle to Steve.

"Right," Steve smiled, "thanks."

"Totally," Bucky said, then lowered his voice, "can I help you, or at least pretend like I'm helping you, everyone is giving me dirty looks. No one likes me."

"Yeah," Steve whispered, "but you gotta wash your hands."

"Hey." Tony called, "Whatcha guys whispering about?" Bucky flipped him off, again.

"Carefully plotting your downfall." Buck retorted, and Tony's smile fell. Everyone started laughing, except Rhodey.

"He's kidding, Tony." Steve said still laughing, "but you should've seen your face."

"It's not funny, Steve." Rhodey scoffed, "It was an immature joke."

"Damn you're dense." Sam spat.

"Yeah, way to be a buzzkill." Nat said, then she turned to Bucky, "That was a good one Barnes." Bucky smiled, clearly pleased with his joke, before turning back to Steve.

"See, not everyone doesn't like you," Steve said smiling.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Bucky smiled, and they went back to cooking.

About half an hour later they were all sitting at the table. Steve passed out plates, the severed the pasta. Everyone sat down. It was quite at first when everyone first tried his food.

"Steve!" Bucky exclaimed, then lowered his voice when everyone stared at him, "This taste just like your mom's pasta."

"Thanks, Buck." Steve said smiling, sitting next to Bucky.

"This is really good, Steve." Natasha said.

"Amen," Sam called, everyone chuckled. The rest of the dinner conversations were very casual. Steve could tell Bucky was uncomfortable. He dropped his left arm, so it brushed against Bucky's flesh arm, wanting to give him some form of comfort. About half hour in to dinner, Tony turned to Steve.

"Ok, Steve." He said, expression partly serious, but mainly joking.

"What Tony?" Steve responded.

"When are you and your boyfriend gonna come out?" Tony said, grinning, "Like we all already know you got it bad for each other, like come on? It's really obvious, like really obvious. We'll still all love you even if your gay, Steve." He said the last sentence a little more serious. But now everyone was looking at him and Bucky. He could feel Bucky grasp his hand, and he grasped it back. Then Bucky did the unexpected. He lean over and quickly kissed Steve's cheek. Steve could feel his cheeks get hot, and a small smile found its way to his lips. Natasha and Wanda smiled, Vision stared at them as if formulating an equation, and Tony just laughed.

"Does that answer your question?" Bucky asked, nonchalantly.

"I guess so," Tony laughed, "damn, I was maybe 46% serious about that." Steve blushed even harder.

"Viz?" Wanda poked Vision, "What are you thinking?"

"Well…" Vision replied slowly.

"Here we go." Tony said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm trying to figure out if Captain Rogers and 's romantic connection is coming from their past friendship, or has arisen from a new found… love."

"For god's sake, Vision!" Rhodey exclaimed, "there's no love there. They're just pulling a stunt. Aren't you?" Rhodey turned to Steve and Bucky.

"Goddamn," Sam cried, "you're really gonna ask em' that. You're gonna be that inconsiderate."

"I'm being 100% serious." Rhodey scoffed. Steve's expression stoned, as he stared down Rhodey.

"Son," He started, "I can love whoever the hell I want."

"Don't son me," Rhodey said, "You're not that much older than me."

"Rhodey, he's like double your age. Remember?" Wanda spoke up, then turned to Steve, "No offense Steve." She said smiling.

"No taken," Steve smiled back at her.

"She's got you in a box there, Rhodes." Tony snarked. Rhodey just huffed, and walked off. Steve turned to Bucky, he could see their were tears brimming in his eyes. He squeezed his hand again, to let him know it would be ok, but all he got back was a weak smile. Steve cleared the table, and everyone moved to the living room. Wanda and Sam sat on one couch, Tony sat in an armchair, so did Sam. Steve and Bucky sat on the other couch, along with Natasha. Rhodey stood to the side of Tony, glaring at Steve. Bucky noticed Rhodey's glare, and he moved closer to Steve, and placed his head on his shoulder. Rhodey made a gagging motion, and Tony jabbed his elbow into his side. Bucky wrapped his arms around Steve, and kissed Steve's cheek again.

"Aw!" Wanda cried, "I'm so glad you guys are finally together! You talked about Bucky all the time is Steve!"

"Stop, Wanda!" Steve cried, his cheeks burning.

"Aw, Steve!" Bucky said, smiling, also blushing, "Is that true!"

"Ummm," Steve said blushing even harder, "sometimes?"

"Aw!" Bucky smiled.

"Oh please!" Wanda snapped, "He talked about you .TIME! Like all the time. It was always, Bucky and I this, and Bucky and I that. Like I'm not even kidding. .TIME. We've all heard so much about you Bucky. I'm so glad to finally meet you."

"AW STEVE!" Bucky cried.

"WANDA!" Steve growled, "STOP!"

"What Steve, she's not wrong." Natasha said.

"And I am finally glad to meet you, Bucky." Wanda smiled.

"Nice to meet you too." Bucky said, almost in a trance. He wasn't use to people being anything but afraid of him.

"Yay!" Wanda said.

"Do you actually talk about me that much?" Bucky asked.

"Well… well, I… yeah." Steve said, letting his head fall, but Bucky wrapped his arms around Steve even tighter, and just smiled.

"Ok, but like real talk," Tony cut in, "when'd this happen?"

"Well… um." Steve stammered.

"Over an hour ago, in the tech room." Natasha cut in, then she turned to Steve, "Am I right?" Steve's cheeks burned, he looked over to see Bucky holding his head down trying to hide his blushing.

"OH!" Tony cried, "So you mean after I left? Goddammit, I knew it! Ha!'' he then turned to Natasha, "Wait how do you know?"

"I'm a goddamn spy, come on guys!" Nat cried, huffing.

"Yeah, and that's not weird at all." Sam said.

"Oh shut up!" Nat yelled.

"So you spied on them?" Tony asked, "And saw?"

"That's not my information to tell." Nat snapped back, crossing her arms and squinting at Tony, like a little kid.

"Ok then." Tony said, turning his attention to Steve, "Steve, what did she see?"

"Um," Steve started.

"I explained why I was here, then kissed him." Bucky spoke up, surprisingly confident. And everyone else went silent. There was a while of uncomfortable silence.

"Is that what you wanted to hear, Tony?" Sam asked, trying to hide his laugh.

"It just I usually leave the kissing for the bedroom." Tony smiled, and winked at Bucky.

"Tony!" Steve cried, through his teeth, "Stop!"

"What!" Tony asked, "I'm just saying, Rogers. What, you guys got plans for tonight?"

"That's it!" Bucky said, "I'm done!" He started to stand but, Steve pulled him back down.

"Don't give him what he wants." Steve whispered.

"What was that Rogers?" Tony said.

"Shut up!" Bucky yelled, flipping Tony off.

"Don't piss him off, Stark." Sam mumbled.

"Yeah, don't." Natasha agreed, "Remember he has one more metal arm then you do." Tony just smirked.

"You're all acting like children." Vision spoke up.

"You're younger than all of us." Tony said, turning to him.

"But I'm smarter than you." Vision retorted.

"He's gotcha their." Sam laughed.

"Shut up, Birdman." Tony snapped.

"That's just low." Sam grumbled.

"Come on guys." Steve sighed.

"Zip it, Capsicle!" Tony yelled.

"Man, you guys argue a lot." Bucky said.

"Yeah…" Steve said slowly.

"So, Barnes." Tony said, "Can I call you Barnes?"

"I don't care." Bucky said.

"Ok then, Barnes." Tony continued, "I have some questions, of which you don't have to answer. One, how long have you liked Cap? Two, for what 'other reasons' are you here? And three, how does your arm actually work?"

"I'm not answering any of those," Bucky said, "Number one, it's hard to tell, with being frozen and all. Number two, that's personal, and number three I genuinely don't know."

"So from that I got, that you've like Steve before you fell off the train, or whatever." Tony smirked, and Bucky muttered a curse. He'd said more than he wanted too. He'd let to much slip.

"I hate you." Bucky murmured.

"Ha!" Tony laughed, "That's real cute Barnes." Bucky's could feel his cheeks getting hot.

"Tony," Natasha pleaded, "stop, you're embarrassing him." She then turned to Bucky. "Just ignore him."

"So why'd you come here?" Tony kept pressing, "Is someone after you? Did you kill someone again?"

"Tony…" Steve said, his expression begging Tony to stop.

"What?" Tony asked, "Did he kill someone? Besides like the tons of people he's killed before? How do you cope with that? You've killed so many innocent people? Of course you weren't in the right mind set, or whatever, but still. You couldn't do anything to stop yourself from being their murder." Bucky could feel the tears leaping into his eyes, but he said nothing, and Tony continued. "Or have you just stoned your heart, do you just not feel anymore? Have you learned how to deal with their ghosts? What if they got to you again, whoever they are, what if you killed someone you loved?" Bucky breathed deeply, trying to get the tears to go away, but more just leapt into his eyes.

"Man, your just the best person ever." Bucky said, sarcastically, but his voice still wavered, "You don't think my dreams are haunted? By the people I've killed? You don't think I lay awake at night, not wanting to sleep because the horrors won't stop. My worst nightmares are me killing people who I love, and snapping out of it just to see them—" Bucky broke down. He buried his face into Steve's chest, and cried. Steve held him, and he was grateful. Everyone else was just silent. Natasha wiped a tear from her eye, and Wanda was clearly crying. Steve just hugged Bucky, but shot a dirty look at Tony. Tony mouthed 'what?', and Steve just glared at him. Bucky stopped sobbing, but didn't sit up. They sat there like that for awhile. One by one everyone went off to bed, until it was just Bucky, Sam, Steve, and Nat. Bucky finally picked up his head, his eyes red from tears. Steve's shirt had a huge wet mark on it, but he didn't mind.

"Hey man," Sam started, "It's not cool what Tony did. And it's not ok what HYDRA did to you either, but know that absolutely none of that was your fault, you understand? None of it." Bucky nodded, and Sam patted him on the shoulder and walked off. Natasha wrapped her arms around Bucky's shoulders, and pulled him in for a hug.

"Barnes," She started, "I admire you. You've been through all these awful things, and yet you're still smiling. I love that about you. And, trust me when I say, I know how you feel." Bucky hugged her back. And she stood up and went down the hall.

"Hey," Steve whispered, "Come on let's—" He was cut off by Bucky's kiss. He wrapped his arms around Steve's necked. He was surprised by how comforting the kiss was. When he pulled away, he hugged Steve again.

"Thank you." Bucky said. And that's where they sat, until Steve felt Bucky's breathing stead, and he realized he was asleep, but Steve didn't mind. He just gently picked up Bucky, and carried him to his room. He laid him gently in his bed, before pulling the extra mattress from out under it. He changed quickly into sweatpants and a white shirt, before passing out on the mattress.

Steve woke to a scream. He jolted up to see Bucky tossing and turning. He placed his hand over his mouth, before he could scream again.

"Buck!" Steve whispered harshly, "Buck!" He said, a little louder. Bucky snapped awake, he arms flew, his metal one right into Steve's cheek. He flew back, landing on the ground.

"Oh my god!" Bucky sobbed, "Steve, Steve, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He reached down to help him up, but Steve flinched, and shied away, "Steve? I-I didn't mean too." There were tears streaming down his face now. He reached down again, but Steve pushed his hand away. Sobs wracked Bucky's body, he buried he head in his hands, and just cried. Steve stood up, gently touching the mark now on his face.

"Bucky," He said, sitting on the bed, "I know you didn't mean it."

"But I hurt you, didn't I," Bucky sobbed, "I hurt you. I'll go." He began to stand up.

"The only way you could hurt me is by leaving me," Steve whispered, and wrapped Bucky in his arms. He knew now how frail Bucky was, and he wanted nothing more than to protect him, "Because I love you so much." He kissed the top of Bucky's head.

"I love you." Bucky whispered.


End file.
